Reception Theory a version of Reader Response Theory

Reception Theory a version of Reader Response Theory

A text doesn't even exist, in a sense, until it is read by some reader

Reception Theory is a version of Reader Response Literary Theory An important concept of RT is that media text – individual movie or television program Meaning is created as a result of interaction between the reader/audience and the text/content.

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Reader Response Theory "Literary theory that focuses on the reader and his or her experience of a literary work" Describes what goes on in the reader’s mind while reading/viewing The construction of the text within the reader

RR Theory. . . Text is not the most important component; the reader is (the reader creates the text as much as the author does) Based on rhetoric, the art of persuasion

2 basic beliefs of RR: ◦ The role of the reader cannot be omitted from our understanding of literature. ◦ Readers do not passively consume the meaning presented to them by an objective literary text; rather, they actively make the meaning they find in literature.

Reader is necessary third party in the relationship that constitutes the literary work. READER + TEXT = MEANING Reader Text Author

Reader Response Criticism …raises theoretical questions about whether our responses to a text are the same as its meanings, whether a work can have as many meanings as we have responses to it, and whether some responses are more valid than, or superior to, others.

Reaction against New Criticism Attention to reading process emerged during 1930 s as a reaction against the growing tendency to reject the reader’s role in creating meaning New Criticism focuses on the text, finding all meaning and value in it.

Leading proponents: ◦ Stanley Fish ◦ Wayne Booth ◦ Louise Rosenblatt ◦ Wolfgang Iser

“All readers have individualized reading experiences because each reader has unique background schemas”

Louise Rosenblatt Formulated the Transactional Reader Response Theory in 1978, although the groundwork was laid much earlier. According to this theory, there are 2 types of responses that all readers have to text: Efferent responses Aesthetic responses

An example The teacher’s role according to the Transactional – Reader Response Theory is to create a path to facilitate the students’ exploration of the curriculum by mentoring, guiding, and adapting lessons.

An example. . . The student’s role according to the Transactional – Reader Response Theory is to be an active participant in making lessons meaningful, and filling in the missing pieces of text with a variety of responses.

Transactional. . . Transactional-Reader Response Theory outlines the importance of understanding the natural variability of readers. Every encounter with literature is different for every person. The meaning, background, and responses to the text are all drawn from individual experiences.

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Wolfgang Isher Phenomenological: reader's experience at the centre of interpretation Indeterminacy of text: the “gaps” or the "Blanks" filled by reader to get the meaning Reader as a co-author

Stanley Fish Affective Stylistics ". . . meaning in a literary work in not something to be extracted, as a dentist might pull a tooth. . . " Interpretation is a communal affair (every reading results in a new interpretation)

Fish example That Judas perished by hanging himself,

Fish example That Judas perished by hanging himself, is an example for us all. That Judas perished by hanging himself, shows how conscious he was of the enormity of his sins. That Judas perished by hanging himself, should give us pause.

Normand Holland Psychological Reader-Response: Focus on what readers’ interpretations reveal about themselves rather than the text (Or work of art)

Types of Responses Initial emotional response Interpretive Analysis Questions Summary Arguing with author (believability of text) Intertextuality Rethinking one part of text after reading another.

RESEARCH ON READER Readers have expectations about how a character will behave—expectations formed by cultures which they live and work Expectation of characters behaviour even though they exist only in the literary transaction Reader response reflect their cultural models

Is context important? Text-reader and context inseparable; Literary response as a construction of text meaning and reader stances and identities within larger social-cultural context Applying CAGE-KTM (cast, age gender, ethnicity, knowledge, Timeframe, Mind or psychology)

Limitations of RR Theory

To Sum Up Reader response takes place within Socio-cultural framework Corrective to literary dogmatism freedom for everyone's interpretation of a text Based on time, place, culture, etc

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